While you might think that your monthly bank statement is just another piece of mail you can toss in the shredder, or a pointless recapping of the events of the past month with your money, you need to know that your monthly bank statement is something that you should be opening up and studying.
Here are some of the best reasons why you should take the time to make your monthly bank statement something you study.
1. Bank Statements Give A Complete Look At Your Finances
How many of us have signed up for a subscription and then forgotten about it? Or maybe done a free 30 day trial and then forgot to cancel whenever the trial was over? Or maybe purchased something at the beginning of the month and forgot about it by the time the month reached its end?
A bank statement can be the perfect snapshot of your finances for a month, and it can allow you to catch any extra income or any expenses that might have otherwise slipped your mind. Then you can correct them for the next month.
You can review all your charges, settlements, balances, penalties, and everything that has been fully recorded, and you won’t be taken by surprise if something unexpected happens to your bank statement.
2. Bank Statements Can Help You Catch Bad and Good Habits
Having a simple green dot statement template for you to use can help you track those habits that make up your spending. For example, let’s say you’ve started eating out and buying meals more often than making them.
While you might think that a five dollar meal here or a twenty dollar dinner there might not be the worst thing in the world. However, when you see what all that spending does in a month, you might find that you are letting hundreds of dollars go into the act of eating out.
Without a bank statement showing you all the spending you are doing per month, you might never have caught this. Additionally, bank statements can help you find good spending habits as well in places where you are spending money wisely.
3. Bank Statements Can Help You Catch Mistakes
Many people like to balance their checking accounts each month, either manually or using various tools online, however, we are only human, and we sometimes make some serious mistakes whenever we balance our accounts ourselves. These mistakes can trick us into thinking we have more or less money than we actually do, and these can throw your balance off.
However, by laying your bank statement and your checking account side by side and looking at them, you can catch any mistakes and also make sure that your numbers are correct. Then you can go into the next month knowing that your account is perfectly set up.
4. You Can Catch Fraudulent Charges
While banks, credit card companies, and storefronts have gotten much better at catching fraudulent or otherwise suspicious charges to your bank cards, you still need to remain vigilant in protecting your data and making sure that your card isn’t being used by someone else.
Making sure that you defend your data and avoid making purchases on unsafe Wi-Fi networks is a start, but often looking at your bank statement is another way to see fraudulent charges. Even if you didn’t make them, they will be on your card and you can still see them.
Then you can call the bank and attempt to take action against these purchases, or you can replace your card and strengthen your data to prevent someone from taking control again.
5. You Can Inspect Automatic Payments
We all love the “Set it and forget it” ease that automatic payments can provide us, and often these payments withdraw from our cards without making any fuss. However, if the company switches over to a new system or you change cards, or something else happens, then you might find that those automatic payments might be late, and that can cause you to get hit with late fees.
When you constantly inspect your bank statements, you can make sure that your automatic payments are being fully processed and you aren’t going to let a small missed payment become a massive problem for your bank account.
Open Your Bank Statement Each Month And Make Sure To Inspect It
Even if everything is fine and you don’t need to worry about your bank statement showing you anything other than the results of your good spending and saving habits, you still should take the time to inspect your bank statement every month just to get a check up on your money. You will be glad that you did, and will also be glad that your money is doing what it needs to do!
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- Source: https://www.fintechnews.org/dollars-and-sense-smart-reasons-to-study-your-monthly-bank-statement/
